Winter/Snow Tires

[Gsteve]

i have tried most of the popular choices. The nokian hakks are great studded , but only on road , off road they are terrible. Studded duras are the best combo , the stk tires are fine and will be my choice again.

 

[Badgertits]

i have tried most of the popular choices. The nokian hakks are great studded , but only on road , off road they are terrible. Studded duras are the best combo , the stk tires are fine and will be my choice again.

I have the Nokians on my truck now, non-studded (ordered them studded but came w/o decided to run them studless for a bit see how I like it since I have a concrete driveway - had studs on a previous truck & felt they were chewing my driveway up) - they are definitely not "terrible" offroad.....would I used them in the desert/baja/rocky terrain? Of course not. But I've already driven in woodsy trails rutted, rocky, muddy & loose in some spots. In 4A no problems at all & that included a few tight spots in mucky stuff w/ some ahhh....13 point turns lol, they ride as smooth/comfy or possibly more so than the stock BFGs which are on stock beadlocks, the nokians are on stock base 17"s - not sure if its the wheel or the tire or both, but the nokian/base setup is noticeably lighter than the beadlock/BFG stock - maybe 10 lbs? I was surprised by that since the Nokians are LT's also

I thought about going w/ the duratracs but not confident they'd be great on packed snow (without studs) or icy conditions - think: driving on unplowed pitch black winding back country VT/ME roads.

Other reason I went w/ this dual setup is because once the BFG's are toast I'll probably opt for a more aggressive AT tire which will undoubtedly be even worse as a snow tire, but won't matter since I have the Nokians for winter.

I do agree if you had to pick just ONE tire that would serve as a real "do it all" - decent offroad multi-terrain, good on pavement, decent in wet, decent in snow & studdable, not super loud - they're heavy though right?

I can't wait to try this thing out in some real heavy snow/winter conditions w/ the Nokians!!

 

[Gsteve]

When I say , bad off road. I mean like a snow covered dirt field, hard packed snow. They were useless Great on icy roads tho

 

[baptizo]

I'm in NWPA/UPNY for work and still have the stock KO2's - zero issues with them on and off-road in the snow (and we get a lot of it). Duratracs are next when the stockers wear out.

 

[Gsteve]

I kind the ko2 pretty good actually. Wayyyyy better than the ko. They were borderline dangerous. If I buy ko2s again I’ll get them syped

 

[Pacific Wheel]

Get some frozen rush BFG KR2 take offs. This is the best snow tire lol

 

[Rustler]

Another user satisfied with the KO2s in the winter here (long Montana winters, and a little less than 100 inches a year at my house and weekly trips into the mountains). Personally I wouldn't swap out perfectly good KO2s for the sake of a different winter tire, but I agree with previous comments that the Duratracs are a bit better in the snow and definitely better on ice (I have run DTs on two previous trucks). Winter tires have gotten so good I think that the circumstances where studs are really warranted are dwindling, but they are still a good option for a select few people. They really do hammer the road surface if it's clear, so even if they're legal in your area I think it's pretty irresponsible to use them unless you do most if not all of your driving on snow/ice packed roads.

 

[Wimankid]

My new Raptor will be here soon and I’ll see how the KO2’s do this winter.

Curious though, anyone using Falkens? Have them on my Rubicon and they work well. Wildpeak A/T3W model. Same snow rating as the KO2’s - Falkens have the 3PMFS symbol on them. My local shop recommended these over the KO2’s when I replaced my tires a year ago.

 

[Badgertits]

Another user satisfied with the KO2s in the winter here (long Montana winters, and a little less than 100 inches a year at my house and weekly trips into the mountains). Personally I wouldn't swap out perfectly good KO2s for the sake of a different winter tire, but I agree with previous comments that the Duratracs are a bit better in the snow and definitely better on ice (I have run DTs on two previous trucks). Winter tires have gotten so good I think that the circumstances where studs are really warranted are dwindling, but they are still a good option for a select few people. They really do hammer the road surface if it's clear, so even if they're legal in your area I think it's pretty irresponsible to use them unless you do most if not all of your driving on snow/ice packed roads.

Montana, Colorado, Utah, northern Cali etc. KO2s fine for that kinda snow, MA, ME, VT, MI, Quebec, upstate NY etc. not so much. Def not ideal. Personally Driven in heavy winter conditions in all these places btw, not just saying this for the sake of it.

If I lived in Montana or Cali I’d run the KO2s & get chains as needed.

 

[Pacific Wheel]

My new Raptor will be here soon and I’ll see how the KO2’s do this winter.

Curious though, anyone using Falkens? Have them on my Rubicon and they work well. Wildpeak A/T3W model. Same snow rating as the KO2’s - Falkens have the 3PMFS symbol on them. My local shop recommended these over the KO2’s when I replaced my tires a year ago.

I personally run AT3W’s for Tahoe winters. IMO they’re hard to beat. Nearly 19/32 tread depth, full depth sipes, tread spaced out enough to work well in the deep but enough siped contact patch to work on hard pack. I think they’re better than most other all terrain winter options with the exception of they’re kinda heavy and not stud-able if you need it.